Cardinal Ravasi: Pastors share lives of faithful

(Vatican Radio) Pope Benedict XVI continued his Lenten spiritual exercises on Friday
in the Redemptoris mater chapel of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican. The retreat
leader, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi,
focused his first morning meditation on Psalms 16 and 73, with particular attention
to the Psalms’ insights into the priestly character and vocation. “The priest,” he
said, “is a fragile person with his sins and miseries,” like others, he is, “in need
of the forgiveness of God and conversion.” Nevertheless, “God’s loving embrace saves
us from mortality and leads us to blessed immortality,” and God’s priests are his
special instruments, by which saving grace is conveyed. Cardinal Ravasi went on to
say, “Authentic and joyful belief in God brings freedom, gratuity, purity and spirituality,”
which, he said, “[are] the only real rewards.” Listen:

The second
meditation of the morning session focused on Psalms 71 and 128, and the wisdom they
convey regarding especially the person, the family and the elderly. Cardinal Ravasi
said, “The believing family should not close in on itself its joys and problems, but
go out to the city, contributing to the good of the community.” He also spoke of the
need for the ordained leaders of the Church to understand and be concerned for the
concerns of the faithful with whose care they are charged. “Pastors must share the
lives of their flocks joyfully and lovingly,” he said.